Since we last heard from Future of the Left, Cardiff's greatest non-furry export lost founding member Kelson Mathias and gained two new ones. Andy Falkous and Jack Egglestone, ex-Mclusky and no strangers to internal band disintegration, soldier on like it ain't no thang — to my ears, their wail-and-bash raison d'etre continues to bring more intense, absurd listening pleasure than any other noise band on the planet. On this six-song EP, a teaser for the band's forthcoming third full-length, The Plot Against Common Sense, FOTL sound even more wiry and razor-like than when they were a trio. The breathlessness is still there, but it's aerodynamically designed. Check out the barreling "With Apologies to Emily Pankhurst," with its whining Farfisa organ cutting a taut line through Falkous's fevered yawp. "Destroywhitchurch.com" and "My Wife is Unhappy" are full-tilt but with restraint — the latter even tosses some melodic trumpet into the mix. Best of all is the title track, the sole song to make it onto the LP. Its strength, like the band's, lies in escalating repetition, patiently making a good thing last longer. And get louder.

BROWN BIRD | FITS OF REASON | March 18, 2013 Brown Bird, a boundary-pushing Americana duo from Rhode Island, make music that touches upon that can't-put-my-finger-on-it amalgamation of past and future sounds.

NICK CAVE &AMP; THE BAD SEEDS | PUSH THE SKY AWAY | February 20, 2013 Much like the similarly low-key The Boatman's Call , Cave's highly anticipated 15th album with the Bad Seeds manages the puzzling feat of making a great band seem inconsequential, if not entirely absent.

SCOTT WALKER | BISH BOSCH | November 27, 2012 Scott Walker's late-period about-face is one of the strangest in the annals of pop music.